Bathing is a difficult or nearly impossible task for the disabled or in-firmed person, especially if the person is attempting to enter or exit a conventional bathtub and without assistance, the act of bathing in a tub is infeasible. Doors, rails, and steps are well-known solutions to ease access into bathtubs and curbed showers. However, any new installation of an accessibly designed bathtub that requires the demolition and removal of the existing showers or bathtubs is typically expensive and labor intensive. Additionally, the replacement, ‘disabled-person accessible’ type of bathtub or shower is often very expensive and complex to operate. A simplified, ‘kit’ or retrofit-able system is needed that efficiently modifies an existing bathtub and shower installations, to provide a water bathing lift system having an easy to use, mechanically assisted access for persons with limited mobility, especially those persons confined to a wheelchair or requiring a walker.
The following is a disclosure of the present invention that will be understood by reference to the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.
Reference characters included in the above drawings indicate corresponding parts throughout the several views, as discussed herein. The description herein illustrates one preferred embodiment of the invention, in one form, and the description herein is not to be construed as limiting the scope of the invention in any manner. It should be understood that the above listed figures are not necessarily to scale and that the embodiments are sometimes illustrated by fragmentary views, graphic symbols, diagrammatic or schematic representations, and rotation lines. Details that are not necessary for an understanding of the present invention by one skilled in the technology of the invention, or render other details difficult to perceive, may have been omitted.